Kick the Habit!

Kicking the habit of smoking has numerous health advantages including the improvement of your heart health. But what about the weight gain that sometimes follows after quitting?

A study in the March 13 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that the added pounds do not negate the benefits to the heart that comes from quitting smoking. Researchers followed the medical records of over 3,000 adults. Those who quit smoking gained an average of six pounds. However, they cut their incidence of cardiovascular disease in half compared to those who continued to smoke.

Of course, there are other benefits to kicking the habit of smoking such as improved breathing and lung health and reducing the risk of cancer, stroke, osteoporosis and more, and we’re not just blowing smoke.